Odyssey sinks as judge rules loot belongs to Spain

Shares of Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. sank Thursday after a federal court said on Wednesday the shipwreck-exploration company should return $500 million worth of treasure from a sunken Spanish warship to Spain.

Odyssey's shares nearly halved, to $2.04, down $1.83, in morning trading, bottoming at a nearly six-year low of $1.39 earlier in the session.

Federal magistrate judge Mark Pizzo recommended the Tampa, Fla.-based company return the 500,000 gold and silver coins to the Spanish government.

Odyssey said Wednesday it would file a written objection to the decision. Another federal judge will consider the recommendation and decide.

The Tampa, Fla.-based company had discovered the 17 tons of loot, popularly known as the "Black Swan" treasure, in the Atlantic Ocean in May 2007.

Spain filed a claim in federal court in Tampa stating that the treasure came from a Spanish ship, the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, which was sunk by the British navy during a sea battle off the southwest coast of Portugal in 1804.

Odyssey had countered that there wasn't enough evidence to prove the ship was the Mercedes, and that it found only the sunken ship's treasures, not the ship itself.

But the judge said he believes there is enough evidence to confirm that the site of the treasure was that of the Mercedes, and both the vessel and cargo sunk with it are subject to sovereign immunity, Odyssey said.

The principle of sovereign immunity states that naval vessels remain the property of the nation that flagged them, regardless of where they lie and how much time has passed.

"I'm very surprised," said Odyssey Chief Executive Greg Stemm in a statement Wednesday. "Odyssey has done everything by the book."